Serious Eats is one of my favorite sites to visit. It keeps me updated in all the places that I would LOVE to check out and also I get to stare at all these fantastic food pix. WARNING: Don’t go to this site if you are hungry. You’ve been warned.

No matter how many times I see it, it always surprises me when I see articles/coverage about Korean food in a mainstream/reputable media source. When I saw this article about Korean style tacos all over US in the New York Times, I have to be honest, it made me feel proud to be a Korean.

Another interesting article on NYTimes. Recently saw the new Taco Bell Drive-Thru commercial and wondered about this topic. Interesting article about this new “fad”. Although the article clearly states all the reasons why this wasn’t a miracle weight-loss pill, I LOVE Mexican food so the Taco Bell fresco menu really appeals to me more than any other. But then again, I don’t like the idea of having to drive to Taco Bell couple of times a week….. Hmmmmm… what does that say about how much effort I want to put into my weight-loss plan? : |

John and I watched this episode of No Reservation couple of nites ago. And I swear to you, HE turned to me and said, “we should keep this episode so we could go check all these places out.” This is why I LOVE this man!

so i THINK there’s a new korean restaurant in cliffside park. i’m not sure. i just drove by it. i swear it looked like korean words. but i don’t know. they were so tiny. and i’m blind. and i tend to make stuff up. so considering all factors, it could be a total lie. anyway, it’s next to the liquor store by A&P. next to .. art florist. i’ll spec it out.

SONIC is a fast food joint that is all over the South. John and I recently found one somewhat near us and these are the pix from our venture. Customers park their cars and the carhoppers on roller skates/blades bring your food to your car. It’s a pretty neat experience IMO.

Here’s the thing. Someone needs to tell Janice Dickinson that she’s on a tv show with cameras. Cameras that could record in the dark. Cameras that could record when everyone’s asleep. Cameras that will record all your actions. Cameras that will record what you do and broadcast to the rest of the world.

Janice lies. Lies alot. And she also urinated all over the camp that they sleep and spend all their time at. Not only that, she steals and eats everyone else’s food. Then LIES about it on camera. And says, “why would they blame me????” Seriously, is she being serious? It’s just mind boggling how she could just lie without even blinking her eye….

Oh yes, and John totally thinks she looks like the Joker on this show. This woman is not aging well.

Chino forwarded this site to me last week and thought I should check it out. I’m not sure what that says about me and I’m not sure what that says about him either. Yes, it’s a site about sandwichesand so much more.

I was first introduced to these delicious delights at a pot-luck dinner in my church group. Of course, we were all eating them like quesadillas, instead of how it should’ve really be eaten. Our dear buddy Paul was nice enough to show us the proper way to eat these “armenian” pizzas. It’s on a flat dough with thin layer of really well-spiced meat mixture. You put the chopped parsely, thinly sliced onions, sliced tomatos, and squeeze some lemon over the entire thing before you go grubbing. It’s soooo good.

We picked these up at a place called, Star Pide Salonu in Paterson, NJ. But I’m sure these shouldn’t be hard to find wherever you are. Here’s a post on Off the Broiler about these. Lahmahjoon, lahmacun, lahmajun, armenian pizza, turkish pizza, whatever these things are called, I assure you, it’s delicioso!

OHHHHHH how awesome would it be to go to one of these mentioned in NYTimes…. Iron-Chef-like events in the real world and in NYC! The question now becomes, how do I find out where they are having these so I could actually attend some!???

A foreigner’s perspective on Korean food is always fascinating to me. Since I am Korean and I LOVE/HEART/ADORE Korean food, I know I am completely bias. But as John and I sat around watching Andrew Zimmern trek around Korea and as he described one of my favorite food “dduk bok ki” as “play-dough with spicy sauce,” I totally cringed!

This actually reminds me of the time when I was watching Bobby Flay making “instant-kimchi/kimchi salad.” It was so far from the Korean food that I grew up with, it bothered me so much that I actually wrote Bobby Flay an email. Well, a lady named Stephanie Banyas on his staff replied to my email in this fashion:

” Bobby never claims to cook authentic food on Boy Meets Grill. All the recipes that he prepares are “his” interpretation of other cuisine..such as Spanish, Italian, Chinese and yes, even Korean. The kimchi that Bobby prepared was a quick kimchi and actually it is delicious and is one of the most requested recipes from all of his shows. Remember, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I hope you have a nice day too”

I don’t know what she’s like in person, but I thought the email was pretty “jack-ass” -like!

Kunjip – This is one of my staple restaurants in NYC. Literal translation to Kunjip is “a big house,” but I believe a better translation would mean, “house of an older family member”(roughly). It is fairly decent priced by NYC standards and IMO, the food is the closest thing you could have to home cooking. Gina and I try to do lunch/dinner on QTRly basis and we went here for lunch on Friday. It’s super cozy and really authentic Korean food IMO. It’s located on Kblock on 32nd street between 5th Ave and Broadway. It’s right next to Pinkberry. Btw, Anthony Bourdain‘s been here and approved it, that’s good enough for moi!

side dishes that usually come out with every meal

jap chae - traditional sweet potato noodle dish w/ veggies & meat

boo dae jji gae - "boo dae" meas military base. it's a stew that has historical background. during the korean war, the korean people will gather whatever they can from the military base to make this stew. it has spam, sausage, noodles, kimchi, and etc.

on saturday i went to the bergen town center with my brother. my mom’s been talking about it and we’ve seen it driving up and down route 4. so my brother wanted to check it out. so we get there. go through the mall. and guess what we seeee…

just in case you’re wondering who the eff bobby is .. it’s bobby flay. that’s right .. bobby flay has a burger joint. no no, let me rephrase. he has a burger PALACE. it’s a standard burger joint. except .. it has bobby flay’s name on it. and thus the lines are ridiculous.

that’s the inside.. after .. 20 minutes of waiting? and we’re still in line. .. waiting.

but long story short, the burgers were alright. i don’t know if i’d wait on line like that for burgers again. but then again, i’m not a burger lover. the only burgers i’d wait on line for are shake shack and in n out. deeelliiicious. one good thing is the different burger options (?), choices (?). i’m not sure what the right term would be. just check out the menu. had the dallas burger. it was pretty good. onion rings. always delicious.

ok. the picture looks gross. and it’s a bad picture. what do you expect? i was driving and using my iphone to take the pic. …….yeah, i’m that crazy asian female driver. my brother always did say i fulfill the female asian driver steroetype..

Last Thursday night, we ventured out to the theater district for some Russian food at a place called Russian Samovar. It was my first time and I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect other than the vodka. But to my surprise, the food was pretty awesome. As for the vodka, after couple of shots, we weren’t able to tell one from another….

From the first course to the dessert, it was a really neat experience to say the least. The funny thing is, there were these small dumplings that tasted just like Korean dumplings (mandoo). I couldn’t get over the similarity between the two. And the dessert that I would never forget… honey layered cake. Totally out of this world!

I just discovered these wonderful sandwiches couple of months ago for the first time. It is pretty fantabuloso! Then I saw this article in NYTimes this morning titled, “Building on Layers of Tradition.” Coolio

I don’t consider myself a “foodie”. Rather someone who enjoys good food and I know what I like and what I don’t like. So when my dear friend Claudia used to live in NYC, we used to do brunch once a month and never went to the same place twice. With Olga and Gina from work, we revived this routine in my life.